Jaco Pastorius (1976)
His self-titled debut album. Great tunes, and great playing - very varied, and pretty accessible. A good intro to Jaco, and a great album.

Word Of Mouth (1981)
His second solo album. Sorta a modern big-band album - far more arranged than the first album, with some lengthier tunes. IMHO, some of his best compositions are on this album ("Three Views Of A Secret", "Liberty City", and "John & Mary"). Jaco's bass playing is less up front in this. I think it's a very fine album, probably my favourite solo Jaco one - however you might find it difficult to get into.

Weather Report - Heavy Weather (1977)
Weather Report's most successful album. Again, great tunes, great playing - two good Jaco compositions ("Teen Town", "Havona"). A great album. Like his debut solo album, very accessible.

Joni Mitchell - Hejira (1976)
Jaco plays on four songs on this ("Coyote", "Hejira", "Black Crow", "Refuge Of The Roads"). Joni's on top form here, and so is Jaco. His bass lines here are markedly different from Weather Report & his solo stuff - but completely great.